And if any of your slaves ask for Mukātabat, accept
it give it to them if you know any good in them and [for this] give them out
of the wealth which Allah has given to you. (24:33)

The above quoted verse of Sūrah Nūr mentions the
directive of ‘Mukātabat’. At the time of the revelation of the Qur’ān, the
institution of slavery was as essential to the economic and social needs of
the society as the institution of interest is considered in present day
societies. In markets, slave-men and slave-women were bought and sold, and
affluent houses had slave-men and slave-women of all ages. In such
circumstances, a sudden directive for their emancipation would have resulted
in many evils: for livelihood, men would have been forced to resort to
beggary and women to prostitution. For this very reason the Qur’ān adopted a
gradual way to eradicate this evil from society and after many gradual
measures of eradication, the above quoted verse revealed a directive for
their liberation. The word ‘Mukātabat’ used in it as a term which means that
a slave make a contract with his master according to which he would be
required to pay a certain sum of money in a specific time period or would
carry out a specific service for his master; once he would successfully
fulfill either of these two options, he would stand liberated. In the above
quoted verse, the Almighty has directed the Muslims to necessarily accept
this contract made by a slave if he wants to make it and has the required
ability to become financially independent. It is further stated that a
Muslim government should spend money from the public treasury, which here is
called the treasury of God, in helping such slaves. It is evident from the
words of the verse that just as this right of ‘Mukātabat’ was granted to
slave-men, it was also granted to slave-women. This, in other words, was in
fact a declaration that slaves could now be masters of their destiny and
could obtain liberation whenever they wanted.

The above stated verse is the last directive regarding slavery. Prior to
this, various other directives were given at various stages because of which
it gradually became possible for this evil to be eradicated from the
society. These are summarized below:

1. In the very beginning of its revelation, the Qur’ān regarded emancipation
of slaves as a great virtue, and urged people in a very effective way to do
so. The tremendous appeal found in the words it adopted ‘فَكُّ
رَقَبَة’ (release the necks) can be well imagined by a person who has
flare for the language. It is evident from the context of such expressions –
wherever they are found in the Qur’ān – that it has regarded this virtue to
be the first as well as the greatest step in pleasing God.1

In a similar manner, the Prophet (sws) also urged Muslims to liberate
humanity from the yoke of slavery in the following words: ‘Whoever liberated
a Muslim slave, the Almighty in return for every limb of that slave would
shield every limb of that person from Hell’2.

2. People were urged that until they free their slaves they should treat
them with kindness. The way their masters had total and unchecked control of
them in the age of ignorance was put an end to. They were told that slaves
are human beings too, and no one should in any way violate the rights they
possess as human beings.

Abū Hurayrah (rta) narrated from the Prophet (sws): ‘Slaves have a right to
food and clothing and he shall not be asked to carry out an errand that is
beyond him’3.

Abū Dharr Ghaffārī (rta) narrates from the Prophet (sws): ‘They are your
brothers. The Almighty has made them subservient to you. So whatever you
eat, feed them with it, whatever you wear, clothe them with it and never ask
them to do something which is beyond them and if there is such a task then
help them out with it’4.

Ibn ‘Umar (rta) narrates from the Prophet (sws): ‘Whoever slapped a slave or
beat him up should atone this sin by liberating him’5.

Abū Mas‘ūd (rta) says: ‘Once when I was beating my slave I heard a voice
from behind me: “O Abū Mas‘ūd you should know that the Almighty has more
power over you”. When I turned back, I found that it was the Prophet. I
immediately remarked: “O Messenger of God, I release him for the sake of
God”. The Prophet said: “Had you not done this you would have been given the
punishment of the Fire”.6

Ibn ‘Umar (rta) narrates that once a person came to the Prophet (sws) and
asked: ‘How many times should we forgive our servant’. [At this], the
Prophet kept quiet. He asked again and the Prophet again kept quiet. Upon
being asked the third time, he answered: ‘Seventy times in a day’.7

3. In cases of un-intentional murder, Zihār, and other similar offences,
liberating a slave was regarded as their atonement and sadqah8.

4. It was directed to marry off slave-men and slave-women who were capable
of marriage so that they could become equivalent in status – both morally
and socially – to other members of society.9

5. If some person were to marry a slave-woman of someone, great care was
exercised since this could result in a clash between ownership and conjugal
rights. However, such people were told that if they did not have the means
to marry free-women, they could marry, with the permission of their masters,
slave-women who were Muslims and were also kept chaste. In such marriages,
they must pay their dowers so that this could bring them gradually equal in
status to free-women. The Qur’ān says:

If any of you have not the means wherewith to wed
free believing women, he may wed believing girls from among those whom you
own: and Allah has full knowledge about your Faith. You are one from
another: wed them with the permission of their owners, and give them their
dowers, according to the norms; [the only condition is that] they should be
kept chaste, neither being lustful, nor taking paramours … This permission
is for those among you who fear sin; but it is better for you that you
practice self-restraint. And Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (4:25)

6. In the heads of Zakāh, a specific head ‘الرِّقَاب فِى’
(for [freeing] necks) was instituted so that the campaign of slave
emancipation could receive impetus from the public treasury.10

7. Fornication was regarded as an offence as a result of which prostitution
centers that were operated by people on the basis of their slave-women were
shut down automatically, and if someone tried to go on secretly running this
business, he was given exemplary punishment.11

8. People were told that they were all slaves of Allah and so instead of
using the words ‘عَبْد’ (slave-man) and ‘اَمَة’
(slave-woman), the words used should be ‘فَتَى’
(boy/man) and ‘فَتَاة’ (girl/woman) so that the
psyche about them should change and a change is brought about in age old
concepts.12

9. A big source of the institution of slavery at the advent of the last
Prophet (sws) were the prisoners of war. The Qur’ān rooted this out by
legislating that prisoners of war should be freed at all costs – either by
accepting ransom or as a favour by not taking any ransom money. No other
option was available to the Muslims.13